Newsletters

Friday 3rd November 2023

The Solemnity of All Saints - November 1st

On Wednesday we celebrated the feast of All Saints when we remember all those who devoted their life on earth to loving God and serving others. They became a saint when the Church recognised that they are especially close to God in heaven.

Some of these people have been given the title ‘Saint’ by the Church, and we celebrate their own special Feast Day in the Church's calendar like St David, St Francis of Assisi or St Josephine Bakhita. But anyone who has gone to Heaven is a saint, and All Saints Day is their feast day. There are many people who loved and served God who are not so well known and are not named as saints by the Church, but they are still included in today’s celebration. These may even include people who were members of our family or our school.

On All Saint’s Day we think about how we on earth are united, as one family, with the saints in heaven. All Saints Day is also a day when we remember that we are all called to be saints.

This week our house captains for the Angels, Amelia and Ezekiel, led an assembly on the Maker Spirit being Critical

Critical thinking skills include theorising, predicting, evaluating, memory recall and thought organisation. They are something that everyone has, but not everyone knows how to use them effectively. Developing effective thinking skills comes with time. They are what we use when we solve problems, make decisions, organise events or process information.

We will be encouraging children to develop their critical thinking skills by asking them to provide reasons for their answers and to expand on their reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with something.

We will be looking for:

children who make connections and challenge assumptions,
children who are flexible and consider alternatives
children who ask questions and recognise patterns in data

Amelia and Ezekiel chose this quote by Martin Luther King to conclude their assembly

All parents and carers are invited to join us for a

Tea & Coffee Afternoon on Thursday 9th November at 2-3pm in the School Hall.

Jacqui Wright will be leading an information session on Anxiety. This will be an opportunity to meet with other parents, as well as Jan Roulson (Learning Mentor), Jacqui Wright (Educational Mental Health Practitioner) and Hannah Fern (SENCo).

If you are interested in coming along, please confirm your attendance by emailing Hannah Fern send@st-josephs.sheffield.sch.uk or by contacting the school office.

November is the month of remembrance. It is a time when we are particularly conscious of those in our community who are grieving and all those families who have lost loved ones in the past year. We would like to mark this time of year by creating a special remembrance display. Please use the candle to write the names of any family members or friends whom you would like to be placed on our remembrance display. Please send your candle to school, with the names of those you would like to be remembered written on it, by Friday, 3rd November. We shall remember them every time we gather together as a community.
We remember all who have died and pray for those mourning a loved one, that God will give them comfort and peace.

We shall also be observing a minute silence on November 10th at 11am to remember all of the people who have given their lives for their country in wars.

Y6 class will be selling Poppies and other items to the children in all classes.

Poppies will be sold for 50p each and other items are shown on the picture.

Please could you send the exact money or a donation as change will not be available

Upcoming Events and Important Dates

Autumn Half term – 23rd to 27th October

Mon 30th October – Pupils return to school

Tues October 31st - Y6 Internet Safety South Yorkshire Police

Wed 1st Nov - Mass@10am The Solemnity of All Saints, Holy Day of Obligation

Mon 6th November - Y2 visit to The Deep - please note change of date

Tues 7th November - Y4 Viking Workshop

Thurs 9th November - Tea & Coffee afternoon 2- 3pm in the school hall

Fri 10th November - Remembrance Day - Y6 Armistice Day Party

Mon 13th - Fri 17th November - Anti-bullying week

Sat 18th November - Open Morning 9:30 - 12pm

Fri 1st December - Blessing of Advent Wreaths

Wed 13th December - EYFS Nativity 10am,

Wed 13th December - KS1 Nativity 2pm

Thurs 14th December - EYFS Nativity 10am

Thurs 14th December - Infant Nativity 2pm

Fri 15th December - Y5 Cannon Hall Farm

Fri 15th December - Infant Party

Mon 18th December - Elf Day

Tues 19th December - Carols in Church 2pm

Wed 20th December - Breakfast with Santa

Thurs 21st December - Christmas Jumper Day

Thurs 21st December - Christmas Show am

Thurs 21st December - KS2 Party pm

Friday 22nd December – School finishes at 1:30pm

Christmas Break – 25th December – 5th January

Your attendance counts

Good school attendance gives children the best start in life. The academic and social benefits of good school attendance help children throughout their childhood and later in life.

In the last few years, the number of children missing days of school has increased and it is a priority in Sheffield, and in the rest of the country, to turn this around. We can all work together to improve children’s school attendance.

Being on time matters too, as being late for school can be disruptive to children and their friends in class.

We want children to be in school every day, on time and ready to learn!

Weekly Attendance - week beginning 30th October 2023

Our whole school attendance target for this academic year (23/24) is 96.5%

Follow the link below for further information:

NHS 'Is my child too ill for school?' guidance

South Yorkshire police Internet safety

On Tuesday Year 6 had a visit from the South Yorkshire Police Joint Community Safety Department for an internet safety session. The session covered things such as keeping personal information safe, sharing images, cyberbullying and consequences, dealing with friend requests and gaming. Just as it is important to be kind and respectful in the 'real world', it is also very important to be respectful online and think about the feelings of others.

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UK Chief Medical Officers' Physical Activity Guidelines:

Children and young people should engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity for an average of at least 60 minutes per day across the week. This can include all forms of activity such as physical education, active travel, after-school activities, play and sports.

Language Ambassadors

This year we have appointed two language ambassadors - Sophie and Noah - who will be very busy promoting and celebrating languages around school. At the start of the year, our Language Ambassadors were set a challenge to find out how many languages are spoken in our school. The languages we speak in our school community are: French, Italian, Albanian, Japanese, Chinese, Slovakian, Zimbabwe dialect, Polish, Pakistani, German and Filipino.

This half term the Language Ambassadors have chosen Italy as our focus country and language. Noah and Sophie shared some basic Italian phrases and some facts about Italian culture

Prayer for the Feast of All Saints

God of life, we give thanks for all the holy men and women who have lived throughout the world.

Help us to live as you would like us to by showing love to all,

bringing peace and always trying to do what is right.

Amen.

Saint Oscar Romero, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

All holy men and women, pray for us.

This week - Let’s try hard to remember how Jesus asks us to live.